Jerome Wetzel is the Chief Television Critic for Seat42F and a regular contributing reviewer on Blogcritics. He also appears on The Good, The Bad, and the Geeky podcast and Let's Talk TV With Barbara Barnett.

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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

"(Un)grateful" For GRIMM

NBC’s GRIMM left us on a heck of a
cliffhanger last spring, with Nick (David Giuntoli) captured and
zombie-fied, and his friends surrounded by The Baron’s (Reg E. Cathey)
minions. This week’s season three premiere, “The Ungrateful Dead,” picks
up right where that hour left off. In fact, it picks up prior to where
last year stopped, replaying the last several minutes, and then
continuing on from there.

Sometimes, if a situation is
particularly perilous, shows don’t mind reusing some footage again in
the next episode, usually just a smidge to remind us of where things
stand. “The Ungrateful Dead,” unfortunately, uses more than that. There
may be a fine line in doing this, and GRIMM crosses it, making one
glance at the clock a few times, wondering when we’ll get to the fresh
stuff.

When we finally do, however, the episode
picks up and takes off running. There’s a lot of action and a lot of
development, all taking place on that same night. I complained in my
season two finale review that the danger in GRIMM is usually too light,
but that is not the case here, with Nick, especially, running the risk
of lasting damage. Depending on how things shake out next week, there
could be ramifications that matter for weeks or months.

There are a few hokey elements. The big,
splashy, visually exciting sequence jut after Nick wakes up doesn’t hew
too close to realism. However, overall, it definitely feels like the
series is growing up, and taking all of the individual elements of the
show with it.

Another thing I mentioned in my most
recent review was that I wished the ensemble was beefed up and given
more to do. That happens immediately in this installment. You’ll
remember Nick is in a coma and destined to be a zombie of some sort when
he awakes. This leaves everyone else to band together and try to save
the day. They aren’t as effective as Nick himself would be, perhaps, but
thankfully they are given the chance to try, which will only make fans’
affection for them grow.

This works best when they are doing
something. At one point in the episode, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell),
Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch), and Rosalee (Bree Turner) take a second to
regroup and discuss course of action. This is the worst part of “The
Ungrateful Dead.” The conversation needs to be had, of course, but with
the immediacy of events, it should take place on the run or in a
speeding car, not the way it does. But that’s the only one scene that
felt truly off and frustrating.

Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) has a great,
but brief, scene in which he lets a little of his beast out. This is
something GRIMM has touched on in the past, but not really spent much
time with. I feel like with the direction the plot is heading in, there
will be more opportunity for Renard’s “wild side” to come to the front,
and I look forward to it.

Wu (Reggie Lee) shines in “The
Ungrateful Dead,” even in only a small part. It’s hard to figure out how
to use his character sometimes, with him not being in the loop about
the supernatural stuff. Here, we see him doing police work, in charge
and tough. This is a glimpse of how he must be on the job all of the
time that he’s off screen, and I like it. There are definitely ways to
work with this and take him a step further.

Adalind (Claire Coffee) remains apart,
too, but that’s a necessity based on her arc. She is still dealing with
things from last year. I won’t spoil what exactly happens with her in
this premiere, but I can confirm that I think her exile is about to end,
and I wouldn’t be surprised if she returns to the main fold within a
week or two, hopefully in a big way.

Besides the characters, which GRIMM does
well, the dialogue is outstanding. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the most
obvious, great series to compare this one to, was funny as well as scary
and emotional. GRIMM has always played with the humorous elements a
little, too. In “The Ungrateful Dead,” there are more than half a dozen
absolutely terrific one-liners and gags. For such a dark, serious
episode, that’s a welcome addition, and I think the writers are really
starting to enjoy using the silly parts of the characters.

Lastly, I have also complained about
GRIMM being too procedural, but said that last spring’s final two
installments were refreshingly serial. So is this premiere, and the next
episode will be as well, with this particular tale not over by the end
of the hour. I don’t know if this is an anomaly, as sometimes show
stretch themselves a bit more at the beginning and end of a year, but I
hope not because these have been among the best episodes so far.

“The Ungrateful Dead” is fantastic,
addressing every weak point I had previously mentioned and raising
itself up overall. It may not be the best show on television yet, but
it’s broken into the top twenty, and it’s heading in the right
direction.